


Chase Liu, Accidental Chat Noir Impersonator

by Writing_Like_Ill_Die



Series: Luciano’s AU BS [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Bashing, Alya Césaire Bashing, Caline Bustier Bashing, Classmates Bashing (Miraculous Ladybug), Classmates Being Idiots (Miraculous Ladybug), F/M, Juleka Couffaine Redemption, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi Lies, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng gets better friends, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Deserves Better, Marinette Transfers Classes, Strong Marinette Dupain-Cheng, class salt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27906394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_Like_Ill_Die/pseuds/Writing_Like_Ill_Die
Summary: A collection of writings and rambles from the AU in chapters 25 and 27 of my Salt Fic September! Feel free to send in questions as comments in this book, and I’ll do my best to answer them.Marinette is kicked out of Bustier’s class for unknown reasons, and is transferred into Mendeliev’s class. The entire school immediately adopts her, making it obvious that they wanted to before but were scared of the akuma class. Marinette makes so many friends who genuinely care about her so fast that she’s too busy to care what her old class is doing. Meanwhile, in Mendeliev’s class, she meets a bleach blonde boy with neon green eyes in all black who calls her princess, and they hit it off instantly.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Original Character(s), Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Original Female Character(s), Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Original Male Character(s), Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Luciano’s AU BS [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043463
Comments: 97
Kudos: 353





	1. Chapter 1

Takes Place: At the beginning of the school year, post Chameleon. Characters are aged up to 18.

Quick Summary: Marinette is kicked out of Bustier’s class for unknown reasons, and is transferred into Mendeliev’s class. The entire school immediately adopts her, making it obvious that they wanted to before but were scared of the akuma class. Marinette makes so many friends who genuinely care about her so fast that she’s too busy to care what her old class is doing. Meanwhile, in Mendeliev’s class, she meets a bleach blonde boy with neon green eyes in all black who calls her princess, and they hit it off instantly.

Cliffnotes Details:

—This is class salt but especially against Adrien. Nathaniel and Juleka transferred out earlier in the timeline, before Marinette was kicked out, and are therefore exempt from salt.

—Basically, the class is portrayed as extremely selfish and ungrateful. They’re under the impression that Marinette abandoned them, and wants to teach her a lesson so she’ll go back to giving them free favors.

—Marinette thinks this mystery boy, Chase, is Chat Noir, and it’s not a hard comparison to make, considering their very similar mannerisms and looks. However, Chase is not Chat Noir and is not pretending to be. In fact, Chase fucking hates him and berates him at every opportunity.

—Marinette has so many friends. A whole lot. She loves them all. Also she dumped her class president stuff and it is now filled with information on all her new friends so she can better keep up with them.

—Happy Marinette!! She’s not stressed as hell anymore!! She’s just enjoying being alive because now she has people she can actually depend on!!

—She’s still friends with Kagami though.

—Kagami kinda had the unfortunate opportunity to witness Adrien ‘Take the high road or ill make you feel bad’ Agreste being a manipulative prick to Marinette, and yeah, that’s not gonna fly. Crush is gone.

—So many original characters. The focus is Chase and Marinette though.

—Chase is a very good guy who has a motorcycle and cares about Marinette dearly. He did beat the shit out of Chat Noir for her, after all.


	2. First Writing of This AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A slightly edited repost of Chapter 25, for quick context, this time with a little more writing.

Class started. The class was listening to Lila. There was someone missing, but they almost didn’t notice.

“Ms. Bustier? Where’s Marinette?” Was Adrien’s hesitant question.

“Marinette has been transferred to Ms. Mendeliev’s class.” The teacher said stiffly.

The class erupted. One thought was on their mind.

_She abandoned us._

—

“Did you hear? Marinette Dupain-Cheng finally got her class transfer approved!!”

“Oh good for her! She’s been trying to get away from Ms. Bustier for years!!”

“Did you hear? Marinette Dupain-Cheng is out of the cult class!”

“That poor girl... I’m so glad she’s out of there. Those kids were some really bad eggs.”

“Without those nasty kids clinging to her, this is prime time to woo the school sweetheart!!”

“What kind of flowers does she like? Would sweets be an insult since her parents are bakers?”

“I’m gonna try and sit with her at lunch! She’s been looking lonely, and now those weirdos can’t stop us!”

—

“Marinette! I didn’t know what flowers you liked, so I got you a couple of my best from my garden!” An eager boy, dashed with dirt, handed over a handmade bouquet of several beautiful flowers.

“Oh wow! Pierre, right? These are wonderful! You’ve obviously taken really good care of them!!” Marinette smiled happily, hugging them to her chest. The crowd around her cooed and fawned over her.

She’d been surprised by how many other people in the school were interested in her, giving her tons of heartfelt gifts. She thought she would be truly alone in Mendeliev’s class, but the entire class was eager to get to know her, and Marc and Nathaniel, who’d transferred out almost a year prior to Marinette, were happy to help her catch up to their speed. Bustier’s class was super behind on classwork!!

Everytime she went to lunch, tons of people wanted to see her and talk to her. They were interested in her and what she was doing, not because they wanted something, but because they genuinely liked her and were curious. The girls and boys alike fawned over her designs, and she ended up bringing home a small group of them almost everyday to hang out. Her parents were delighted by the massive influx of friends, and were happy to let the groups mingle in the cafe area of the bakery as long as they didn’t disturb customers and didn’t take up too much space.

Marinette did her best to remember everyone who approached her, which just made her more adored by all as she effortlessly recalled dozens of people and their interests. She did her best to make time for all of them, and they all appreciated her doing such. To help her organize, she emptied out her binder used for class president stuff (as she was no longer class president), and instead made entries of all her new friends, their likes and dislikes, etc. She showed it to her class president, Aurore, and she thought it was unbearably sweet.

Pierre Weaver, gardener, liked to talk plant breeding strategies, grew the freshest strawberries and the prettiest sunflowers.

Lake Rainer, painter, who liked to ask very philosophical questions that didn’t always make sense. Marinette enjoyed their conversations while she sewed in the art club.

Jacques Fawkes, a genius engineer that built a robot out of scrap and was not able to have it taken by teachers because it was a registered learning AI. The AI, Rat, was as cheerful and rambunctious as his creator. Both of them had volunteered to walk Marinette to and from class to help her avoid her old class. Jacques’ intimidating height cane in handy at scaring away her class in the hallways.

There were more, of course. So many more. But the big takeaway was that the whole school loved her, and she was never alone.

Which meant there was no time for a certain reporter to yell at her about abandoning them. Not without half a dozen people coming to her defense. The rest had no luck either. The gardening and ecology club had taken in Marinette as their own, Luka and Juleka refused staunchly to repeat any of the crap their class was trying to spew, the rest of the art club was on Marinette’s side, and she was never alone outside of school unless she was in her room; and her parents knew what her old class had done.

They stopped after a few weeks. They didn’t need her. She abandoned them. So they’d abandon her. Lila would do great as class president anyway.

—

Among Marinette’s friends, there was one who was special.

On her first day in Mendeliev’s class, a bleach blonde boy dressed in all black sat next to her. His eyes were brilliant green and his lip was pierced. He introduced himself as Chase, and said that it was awesome to finally meet her in person.

As if that wasn’t enough evidence... Throughout the class, he made she understood everything and called her princess. He walked with her everywhere, always making sure it was okay for him to come, citing a need to protect her. He really was too obvious, but Marinette let him keep up the act. Her silly alley cat was finally within reach, and she found herself liking him more as a civilian than she ever did when he was a hero. Adrien’s crush had been clawed to pieces by a boy with a fanged grin and a motorbike who loved to take her riding across Paris.

He was half-Chinese too, like her, and Sabine had instantly adored him the first time he came over because when she gave a greeting in Mandarin, both Marinette and Chase answered in kind.

He was kind, and gentle with everyone around him, even with his playful mannerisms. He worked on the weekends at the zoo, as an assistant nurse and caretaker, and Marinette had decorated her now empty wall with several pictures of Chase caring dutifully for the animals. He had a special fondness for cats of any kind, and Marinette would never forget him being tackled by an excited panther cub that remembered him.

It started to get colder, and Marinette and Chase got closer. It wasn’t uncommon to find Marinette in Chase’s lap, especially as the chill got to Marinette and caused her ladybug instincts to take over. She couldn’t operate because of it, but Chase had figured out her ‘condition’ and volunteered himself as a living space heater. Mendeliev had relented as well, once the doctor’s note was given.

All in all, things were finally starting to go Marinette’s way.

—

“The Halloween festival is coming up! I heard Marinette Dupain-Cheng is opening costume commissions with a friend discount!”

“No way, I’m paying full price! It’s a total fashion no-no to take a discount from an up-and-coming-fashion star!”

“There’s all kinds of people asking her to the Halloween dance! Who do you think she’ll go with?”

“I bet with her on the team, Ms. Mendeliev’s class fundraiser is going to be great!”

— “Fresh fall snacks, straight from the farm! Come and get them!” Pierre called across the festival, getting swarmed as people hurried to grab pumpkin bread, caramel corn, and candy apples before the gardener ran out.

The rest of Mendeliev’s booths were doing just as fantastically. Mirielle and Aurore were doing palm reading with the guidance of their ghost-obsessed classmates, Himiko and Kiyo, who acted as a spirit mediums for tonight.

With tons of spooky moving accessories and dolls sat Marinette, Jacques, and Chase. Their stall was very, very, _very_ crowded.

Ms. Bustier’s class didn’t have a stall. Apparently, you had to register for each individual stall ahead of time. But Lila was just so busy!! It was okay that they didn’t raise any money... it was fine... They still had reserve from last year.

—

“Did you hear? Apparently the akuma cult showed up to the Halloween Masquerade in cheap outfits.”

“Ha, yeah, they said some famous designer was going to make them but their outfits were stolen. What a joke. At least have the decency to admit your trashiness and not lie about it!!”

“That Juleka girl was really pretty, though! Apparently she’s really sweet and got stuck in with the bad eggs, like Marinette and Nathaniel. And guess who escorted her? Kagami Tsurugi! I even heard that Kagami had their outfits made by a famous designer!”

“Right! Juleka and Kagami went as Chat Noir and Ladybug! So cute!!”

“Marinette and Chase totally topped them, though. They did a yin-yang theme! They looked so happy! Want pictures?”

—

Marinette was having the time of her life, being waltzed around the room by Chase. He kept spinning them, turning them into a blur of black and white. She was dizzy, but she was laughing with all the joy she had, clinging to him and trusting him to take care of her as her feet left the floor.

Her heart fluttered happily in her chest. Her kitty, her kitty, her amazing kitty...

“Marinette, I have something I want to tell you.” He whispers as their dance slows. Marinette clings to him tighter, and kisses his cheek.

“You don’t have to say anything. I know. I want to tell you too, you know... but I’m afraid you’ll see me differently.” Marinette whispered back.

“You can tell me when you’re ready. And when you do, I’ll tell you.” Chase promised, pressing their foreheads together. “Ok, Princess?”

Marinette hummed happily, and resisted the urge to kiss him silly. “Ok.”

—

“Did you see that Marinette got a flood of letters in her locker?!”

“Really?! She must have a lot of admirers, not that I blame them!”

“But that’s the thing! She does, but almost all of them are from the same guy! Apparently he’s courting her the old fashioned way!”

“Wow, she’s so lucky!!”

“More than that, Mendeliev’s class announced their class trip! They’re planning to go to Japan and tour the country!”

“Bustier’s class heard that and their class deputy announced they would be touring the world! Can you believe that?! That Liar girl looked like she was going to pass out!”

“Wait, is her name Liar? I thought it was something else. Lidia? Lea? Lemon?”

“Who cares. The girl’s a liar. Jagged Stone’s kitten, seriously?!”

—

Sarah Berry and Samantha Hamstring, two kids in drama club, had caught some girl named Rose trying to corner Marinette and Juleka in the dressing room. Sarah wasn’t going to put up with that, and Samantha was quick to get the club leader, Heather Chandler.

After that, the kids became more vigilante about protecting the two darlings of DuPont.

Winter was coming quickly, and with that cane various winter holidays. Marinette was very occupied getting ready for Christmas, but always did her best to see her friends, filling up her files with memories and mementos of them. She also made time for Chase, where they would go on little outings she was too shy to call dates. On a cold December night after a successful fundraiser of holi-grams, little messages sent from people to people, Marinette had received close to a hundred holiday grams with candy and gifts attached. Marinette has carefully picked out the one sent by Chase from her bag of them and hugged him tight.

—

“Are you ready to tell me?” He asked her as they danced around the ballroom in their winter-themed formalwear.

Marinette hummed happily. “Soon. Tell me, though... do you like me for me? I know you’re so cool, but I don’t like you because of that. I like you because you’re kind, and sweet, and you care more about me than anyone has in a long time. But I’m afraid you only like me for who I am.” Marinette softly pouts.

“I don’t care about any of that. I like you because you’re the kindest, most generous person I’ve ever met. I’ve seen how you act around everyone. Even with Chat Noir starting to stop participating in akuma battles, you’re still so kind to him.” He said heavily. “He doesn’t deserve it.”

“Maybe it doesn’t matter what he deserves. We all make mistakes. I just wish he would quit going after ladybug. It makes me feel bad.” She hints.

“I understand. It’s hard to watch. If I could, I would stop him.” He said solemnly.

That made Marinette feel a little sad, thinking that his attitude as a hero might not be his choice. She put a hand to his cheek, smiling softly at him. They’d stop, and Marinette tilted his head up.

“Oh.” Chase said intelligently, looking at the mistletoe.

“Do you want to kiss me?” Marinette asked softly.

“Absolutely.” was his rushed, desperate response as he pulled her flush against him and stole her first kiss. Yet, Marinette was more than happy to have it taken. If he only asked, she would give him all her firsts.

—

“We still have money in the reserves.” Bustier’s class said, taking out money for dresses for the winter ball.

—

“It’s finally spring! So nice!!”

“The fundraisers went really well for almost everyone! It seems all but one class is getting their class trip this summer!”

“Who didn’t? Did they not meet their goal?”

“No! Get this! Bustier’s class got an anonymous donation that would cover the whole trip in January, but then in March they found out that arrangements were never made with anyone outside the school. Now they’re finding out that they’re broke! All of them used both the anonymous donation and everything in reserves on personal things!! Now they have no money and no trip!!”

“Really? Bustier’s class is bankrupt?!”

“As much as a school class can be!! Agreste even got pulled out of school!”

“I heard something even worse. Apparently back at the beginning of the school year, Bustier didn’t actually approve Marinette’s appeal. She kicked her out of her class for ‘bad behavior’!! What a terrible teacher!!”

“Just abandoning Marinette like that... what a terrible woman.”

—

Right before they loaded the plane for the school trip, Marinette got Chase alone.

“I want to tell you my secret.” She told him.

“Okay. I’ll go at the same time.” Chase responded quickly.

They counted down.

“I’m Ladybug!”/“I’m in love with you!”

Marinette’s entire face went went cherry red.

Chase’s jaw dropped. Then he slapped his forehead. “That makes so much sense! No wonder you keep disappearing!”

“Wait! I thought you were Chat Noir!” Marinette whisper-screamed.

“No, of... okay, I can see how you might have made that connection.” He blushed sheepishly. “But I’m not Chat Noir. I hate the guy, actually. And... you mean what you said during the ball, right? You never loved me because you thought I was Chat?”

“Of course not! I was happy when I thought you were, but I fell for you because you’re an amazing and caring person.” Marinette assured. “I... love you too. A lot. Though that does make me wonder who keeps showing up on my balcony, if not you.”

Chase looked ready to kill someone. “What?”


	3. They’re Called The Akuma Class For A Reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New sniplet based on an ask!! The Akuma Class lives up to its name, and Chat Noir is terrible at giving advice.

* * *

* * *

There was a reason that almost all the other students avoided the Akuma Class like the plague. It wasn’t the fact that their teacher led them like a cult leader would their followers, though that contributed. It wasn’t even that a serial liar, a neurotic reporter, and a genius with a superiority complex were all in the group.

No, the reason that the Akuma Class didn’t have many friends outside their group was because they lived up to their name. At least once a week, though usually more than that, one of them would get akumatized over the dumbest, pettiest crap and start terrorizing the school. Anything could set them off, and it didn’t help that Chloé Bourgeois, a girl who lived for causing chaos, was also in their class.

The rest of the school had learned their lesson on not messing with the Akuma Class only a few months after akumas started showing up. Bustier could hide the facts all she wanted from parents, but the majority of the school’s population were very much informed on how often these kids got so upset they got possessed by an evil butterfly man... Usually because they ended up being the Akuma of the Day’s unintended victims.

That wasn’t even the worst part. The rest of the teachers had found ways to avoid akumas. There were rewards for going a certain amount of time without akumization, and there was the threat of detention if you intentionally caused or took an Akuma (which luckily had only happened a few times). There was free professional therapy available to students, paid for by the guidance counselor, and short classes on how to resist akumas. The students were well prepared to face akumas, and knew how to get rid of them and resist them.

All except Bustier’s class. Bustier thought the rest of the school’s methods were too harsh and mean, and instead she declined the offers on her students’ behalves, keeping them out of the loop that help was available. Instead, she preached love and kindness, and forced the students to forgive each other and work together in peace, even though most of them still had grudges against each other for past akumizations. This made the perfect hotspot for all the negative emotions that Hawkmoth needed to make his villains. It would be stupid not to take advantage of it.

When Marinette was moved to Mendeleiev’s class, she was delighted to realize all of the resources available to her. She was already amazing at resisting akumas, but she was finally able to get some real therapy over all the things she’d been forced to see as a result of being in the Akuma Class. She’d been in horrifying positions, enough so she was terrified of akumas, and always hid as soon as she could when one came around. And the best thing about having dozens of new friends that adored you was easy access to the best hiding spots and escorts to take you there.

Marinette was touched by how much her friends wanted her safe, most knowing of her fear and seeing her as the first priority when akumas struck, focusing on getting her safely away. And it provided an incredible source of alibis, because when she asked to be alone, they allowed it, and some even waited outside her hiding spot, guarding it. It was great.

But what was great for Marinette was terrible for her old classmates, because without someone to calm them down from their temper tantrums, their akumization rate went way up. Usually it was once or twice a week. Now it was almost every day. Marinette was often the unwitting victim, and found herself having to console her old classmates as Ladybug now, as they pitched fits about Marinette ‘abandoning’ them. It was very, very, _very_ tiring. She tried to give them advice and get them to lay off her civilian self, but Lila’s words had some truth. They only listened to what they wanted to hear, and deflected Ladybug’s advice because it would mean facing consequences for their actions.

They thought Ladybug was too serious and mean, what with the years-long coddling they received from Bustier. So they reached out to Chat Noir.

It didn’t go well.

* * *

“Yo, Chase!” A voice said as the bleach blonde boy picked up the phone. Chase grinned as he heard it, watching Marinette as she bounced around the fabric store they were in like a kid in a candy store.

”What’s up, Meuric?” He asked happily, looking through vintage fabrics to see if there was anything that caught his eye. He was kinda feeling like 1920s would be a cool aesthetic to work with again. Maybe an authentic flapper dress and not the historically-inaccurate knockoffs he keeps seeing online. 

“You’re still out with Nettie, right?” The Welsh boy’s voice seemed a little nervous.

”Yeah, we’re at the fabric store, getting stuff for the upcoming fashion competition. Did something happen?”

”Just keep her away from her house. Chat Noir gave really bad advice to that akuma class girl— the reporter, y’know? Anyway, she’s been akumatized and she’s trying to force Marinette to be friends with her again.” Meuric said this all in a very tired tone.

”Again? You think that dumbass would learn, and yet here we are.” Chase sighed very heavily.

”Oh yeah, the akuma is also targeting Chat Noir to try and force him to fall in love with Marinette because she mistook his advice as him admitting he loved Marinette. I had to hear the conversation, and oh boy, it wasn’t pretty. I’m starting to sense a pattern of Chat Noir giving terrible advice and then getting targeted by the akuma he powered.”

”No wonder the coward is starting to avoid battles. My house isn’t far from here. I’ll let her finish shopping if I can, then I’ll squirrel her away in the studio.” Chase decided.

”Good idea. I’ll keep you updated. Promise me you won’t try to beat up Chat Noir?” Mauric asked tentatively.

”If he comes near my princess he’s getting my steeled toe boot up his ass. Otherwise I promise I will behave myself.” Chase compromised

”Fair enough.” Mauric concludes. “Be safe.”

”No promises on that one.” Chase grins, and ends the call after saying goodbye. Marinette runs up to him with a bolt of fabric, and Chase turns his attention to her, not concerned about today’s akuma class brand akuma.


	4. That One Serial Liar Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knows that Lila Rossi is a total liar. Unfortunately, Lila Rossi doesn’t seem to understand the concept that most people despise her.

Everyone in the school knew that Lila Rossi was a giant liar. After all, most everyone had common sense, and information spread fast. It wasn’t a surprise, as her lies were outlandish and hard to take seriously, even in a school full of minor celebrities like two news reporters, a comic book power duo, and Marinette fucking Dupain-Cheng. Lila didn’t have any ready made proof like the true celebrities of the school, who could quickly source their involvement or even call up celebrities to back them up. (And it was hard to forget the day that _Jagged Stone himself_ dropped by the school out of nowhere to pay his ‘honorary niece’ a visit.)

But what they did find out was that apparently the rest of the akuma class believed the bullshit coming out of Liela’s mouth. Marinette has vented to Chase, who told Aurora and Mirielle, who got confirmation from Nathaniel and Juleka, and then it started to spread rapidly as a new reason to hate the akuma class. Marc had wanted to take a knife to Lila. Nathaniel stopped him. Chase had wanted to sucker punch her. Marinette stopped him. Juleka’s new band of goths wanted to terrorize the class. Juleka didn’t stop them.

Still, even though the whole school looked at Lila with disgust, she didn’t seem to understand it as that. In her mind, it was impossible for the majority of people to not love her. It was always a few outsiders that she could neatly sweep away. Lost in her superiority complex, she held her head high as people whispered about her as she walked the halls. In her head, they were whispering jealously about her latest fictional adventures, or whispering words of adoration.

In reality...

“What the hell is she wearing?!” Chase Liu whisper-shouted as he watched her from his locker. His many friends were there with him, Marinette tucked affectionately to his side, with a protective arm around her shoulders and her hand tucked into his jacket pocket. They all snickered as Lila walked by in a neon orange jumper with dark green accents, and Marinette gagged.

“God, this is the worst outfit yet. She looks like a moldy tangerine.” She sighed in frustration.

“Does anyone think her braids kinda looks like p—“ Jack Kennedy was interrupted by his girlfriend.

“Yes, we know what they look like, Jack, we can all see it.” His girlfriend, Joan, was looking up at him with a look of warning, daring him to say what he was going to say out loud.

Jack wisely changed the subject. “Why, uh, does she look so proud? Is she trying to blaze off our eyeballs on purpose?”

“Pretty sure she’s just stupid, haha.” Came the soft voice of the student leader of the art club, Leo. He was wearing his smock as usual, and it was already lightly splattered with paint as he walked over to join the conversation.

“That’s sad to think about.” Jacques, towering above the rest of his friends, was still watching Lila walk proud as a peacock down the hall. “Bitch doesn’t even know we hate her.” On his shoulder, Rat the AI nodded it’s little robotic head solemnly.

“Enough about her, though! Let’s talk after school plans.” Chase grinned, flashing his fangs. “Me and Nettie have art club, of course, but after that I think we’re both free if anyone wants to go do something stupid.”

“I’m always down for doing something stupid!” Jack cheered.

“If that was the case you wouldn’t be dating me.” Joan mumbled with a chuckle, sparking an squawk of indignation from her boyfriend.

“Could go street racing. My boyfriend’s been looking for an excuse to bring out his bike.” Jacques suggested.

“I’ve got a bike too, so that’s three.” Joan grinned dangerously.

“I’ll play referee, then!” Leo smiled sweetly.

“What do you think, Nettie? It’s not too dangerous for you, is it?” Chase asked, carefully watching her reactions.

Marinette smiled. It was nice to know that there really was no pressure. She didn’t have to come if she didn’t want to, and if she wanted Chase’s company elsewhere, all she had to was ask. It was nice to have a choice, instead of being dragged along for her former classmates’ schemes with no care for her level of comfort. But she wanted to do this, so she nodded. “I’m in.” She giggled, hugging herself tighter to Chase’s side.

It was so domestic, to have a guy hold her like this so casually, even if they weren’t officially in a relationship. But it was so nice. Everything she’d ever wanted to have with Adrien, and yet more. So many times Adrien had made her feel like she wasn’t good enough, like she wasn’t wanted. Like she wasn’t desirable.

It wasn’t even winter yet and Chase had made her feel like the most precious girl in the world. He looked at her like he could hardly believe she was really here with him, like he could hardly believe she was real, she was so wonderful. He made her feel wanted, and every time she caught a glimpse of his dopey grin and soft eyes as he stared at her, her heart soared.

—

Peace wouldn’t stay peace forever, of course. Throughout the year, people got more and more fed up with Lila. And while some people could keep their cool, others were not so kind.

Heather Chandler intended to destroy Lila, to bring her down to her absolute lowest. She was tired of seeing this wannabe Queen Bee prancing around, and wanted to knock her down a few hundred pegs. And while Chloé Bourgeois could pretend that she was the queen of this school, everyone knew that what Heather Chandler, captain of the drama team and head of the student council, wanted, she would get.


	5. Good People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the majority of the Akuma class were terrible kids who threw tantrums when things didn’t go their way, there are good ones that got stuck in there for a time before eventually being rescued.
> 
> One of them was Juleka Couffaine.

“Yo, Jules!” Juleka looked up from her locker and saw her best friends already rushing to her. She smiled shyly, braving her as they came straight at her, dogpiling her in a hug. Now in the middle of a very affectionate group hug between her band members, she giggled.

“You don’t have to hug me every time...” She mumbled shyly.

“What are you talkin’ ‘bout, Julie? Of course we do!! You deserve love and affection, and we got it in spades!” Amy, a half-Chinese student with short black hair with a purple streak, black lipstick, and lots of piercings was grinning at her as she wrapped an arm protectively around her. She was damn good at the guitar, and was probably one of the girls Juleka was closest too. Amy was bombastic and didn’t tolerate injustice. The moment Juleka transferred out of Bustier’s, Amy had basically adopted her.

Juleka hummed happily and leaned into her.

“Plus, those stupid preps in your old class have been causing trouble again. We know that it’s probably difficult for you, so we want to make sure you get as much support as possible.” Ebony piped up. She was shorter than Juleka, quite pale, and could be very intimidating at times, but she was a good person at heart who cared heavily for the safety of her group. Even if Juleka was the newest member, she was no exception. Ebony was particularly disgusted at what Rose had done to Juleka, and did her best to build Juleka’s self esteem back up.

“Hmm... She’s right.” Resident Japanese keyboardist, Korekiyo, put a bandages finger to the place on their mask where their mouth would be. “They have been accepting butterflies more often than not.” He sighs, tugging on her skirt. “I wish my Mother could do something about this. Unfortunately, the principal of this school is very good at covering his tracks, and I don’t to transfer out.” They said, irritated.

Korekiyo was neither a girl or a boy, but they were still considered part of their all-girls group because they felt they were both male and female at the same time. They were very kind and reliable, though, and their mother had purchased a music studio they could practice in. Not only that, but she was happy to be their manager and get them gigs. Basically, Mme. Ludenberg was the best, and Kiyo was even better.

Still, Juleka gave them a tight hug to try and ease their worries. They held her in turn, stroking her hair.

The warning bell rung, and the girls (plus one genderfluid) sighed in frustration, splitting apart.

“Don’t worry, we’ll meet up for lunch! And then after school we have practice!” Any grinned. “You’re bringing Himiko, right, Kiyo?”

“That’s correct. Speaking of, I need to make sure she didn’t fall asleep in the middle of the hall or something. I’ll see you all at lunch.” Kiyo walked off elegantly.

“Bye.” Ebony waved. “I gotta go, too. If you need anything, text me or Kagami. I can get there faster, but Kagami has a sword. So weigh your options, I guess.” She started to walk away, apparently done with the conversation.

“Speaking of Kagami...” Amy’s grin was catlike. “You ready to train your girlfriend in the art of goth?”

Juleka blushes harshly. “I, well, I mean— She already said she wanted to join the band, so, uh—“ She couldn’t stop stammering.

Amy laughed at her, nudging her playfully. “Well she’s in your class now, so have fun making googoo eyes at her.”

Juleka’s face burned and she swatted at Amy, but she danced out of range of her attack, laughing all the way. “See you at lunch!” Amy calls, running to her classroom.

Juleka sighs fondly, and then grabs her stuff out of her locker, making her way to Mendeleiev’s classroom.

As she enters, she sees that class has not yet started, and most people are hanging out in their little groups. Kiyo is here, along with their girlfriend, Himiko. The two Japanese transfer students are in the back of the classroom, talking quietly about some reality show they both liked. Nathaniel and Marc are in the other back corner, busily working in their next comic. Juleka waves, and they wave back happily.

In the back center, she sees Marinette and her best friend, Chase. Chase is a good guy, who treats everyone with kindness unless they’re a bully. Juleka likes him, and is glad that Marinette has finally gotten over Adrien.

She smiles at Marinette, who beams at her. It’s nice, to see Marinette so stress-free. It makes Juleka happy, because Marinette really is a special friend to her. She goes to sit at her desk, pulling out her current drafts for songs and perusing them, seeing if she feels any sudden inspiration to continue them.

“Juleka-chan.” She hears from behind her, and feels her face redden. Behind her is Kagami, starting to wear darker clothes and accessories, as a result of all the time they’ve spent together lately. It makes Juleka immensely happy to see Kagami trying new things, and trying to come into her own. She knows about her past with her mother, and she wants to support her the best she can.

She leans her head back to look at her backwards, smiling shyly. “Gami.” She greets happily, giggling as Kagami steps closer, smiling warmly at her. Juleka sits back up as Kagami sits in the chair beside her. As usual, they scoot close together, their thighs pressed against each other.

“May I see what you’re working on?” Kagami asks, a bit timidly.

“Of course! Besides, maybe you can learn something. Have you figured out what instrument you want to try and play?” Juleka inquired.

“I’ve been thinking about it very deeply. I know you have the bass, Ebony has the drums, Kiyo has the synthesizer, Amy is the lead guitarist, and Himiko mixes the songs. So I was thinking, maybe that I could be the singer.”

Juleka beamed. “I think that’d be amazing.”


End file.
